New Year's Eve(새해 전날) ~에서 🇯🇵 일본

Omisoka (New Year's Eve) in Japan is a contemplative affair compared to the party atmosphere found elsewhere. The evening is spent with family, eating toshikoshi soba (year-crossing buckwheat noodles), which symbolize longevity and the cutting away of the old year's hardships.

At midnight, Buddhist temples across Japan ring their bells 108 times in a ritual called joya no kane. The 108 strikes represent the 108 earthly desires (bonno) in Buddhist teaching that cause suffering. Major temples like Chion-in in Kyoto require teams of monks to swing their massive bells, and the deep resonance carries across silent neighbourhoods.

NHK's Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Battle) is one of the most-watched television programmes in the world, broadcast since 1951. Two teams of popular musicians compete in a format that has become inseparable from the Japanese New Year's Eve experience. The broadcast ends just before midnight, transitioning into the bell-ringing ceremony.

After midnight, many Japanese head directly to shrines and temples for hatsumode (first shrine visit), though the bulk of hatsumode visits occur on January 1st through 3rd. The atmosphere is serene and reflective, focused on gratitude and spiritual renewal rather than raucous celebration.

The last day of the Gregorian calendar year, celebrated worldwide with countdown parties, fireworks, and midnight toasts welcoming the new year.